Missouri's Springfield tells tale of many cities

Photo by Norm RoyJoan Hampton-Porter, curator of The History Museum of Springfield-Greene County, stands beside a reproduction of a Springfield Wagon manufactured in Springfield, Mo., in the 1800s.
Springfield Wagon Co. also built circus wagons for P.T. Barnum.

By Norm Roy

I knew I was in the Ozarks when I learned that Bass Pro Shops is the biggest tourist attraction in Springfield, Mo.

Indeed, the sporting-goods retailer claims to be the largest tourist attraction in the state, eclipsing even Gateway Arch in St. Louis.

The city also claims to be the most populous Springfield in the nation and third-largest city in Missouri. The population in 2007 was estimated at 154,777, almost 5,000 more than Springfield, Mass.

Local lore tells of James Wilson, a native of Springfield, Mass., offering free whiskey to those who would vote to name the Missouri settlement after his hometown.

Joan Hampton-Porter, 35, is curator of the History Museum of Springfield-Greene County. She said the first settlers arrived from Tennessee in the 1820s, seeking inexpensive land. The town was founded in 1838.

But the story of this Springfield begins with a tale of two cities, Hampton-Porter said.

St. Louis-San Francisco Railroad laid tracks in 1870 just to the north of Springfield, through a settlement known as Moon City.
Springfield and Moon were separate towns for 18 years before Springfield swallowed Moon City.

Springfield is still a railroad town with several trains a day hauling coal and freight for such major local manufacturers as Kraft Foods, Solo Cups, Northrup-Grumman and 3M. More than 18,000 are employed in manufacturing.

Three of Springfield's largest employers are in healthcare, which provides more than 16,000 jobs.

Springfield also claims the title of "University City" because it is home to seven institutions of higher learning, most notably Missouri State and Drury universities. The local student population exceeds 40,000.

Built on a plateau of the largest mountain range in the country, Springfield became known as "Queen City of the Ozarks."

"We think that name was started as a promotion to get more businesses to locate here in the 1880s and '90s," Hampton-Porter said.

Like many cities of its era and region, Springfield was laid out in a grid with wide streets to accommodate streetcars and auto traffic. It was a stop on the Butterfield Stage line and is in the path of the infamous "Trail of Tears," along which indigenous Cherokee were moved to reservations in the West.

Park Central Square in the heart of downtown Springfield is surrounded by small shops and office buildings. The square is said to have nurtured the roots - so to speak - of Route 66. It was here, in April 1926, the name was proposed for the new Chicago-to-Los Angeles highway; the "Mother Road" opened in 1938.

The quad was also the scene of the nation's first recorded shootout, precipitated by a disagreement between Wild Bill Hickok and Davis Tuff Jr., in July 1865. Tuff didn't live up to his name.

Outside the city, the National Park Service maintains Wilson's Creek National Battlefield where, on Aug. 10, 1861, Union and Rebel forces clashed in what one survivor described as "A might mean fowt fight."

King said she was drawn by the city's "cultural offerings, restaurants, sports and youth activities." Springfield "just made a lot of financial sense," King said, because it is within 500 miles of nearly half the population of the United States.

"Springfield," she said, "has everything you need and nothing that you don't."

Norm Roy, a retired production editor for The Republican, lives and travels in a motorhome. He is eager to hear from readers about their adventures; his e-mail address is lollygaggeratlarge@gmail.com.

Fact Box:
OTHER SPRINGFIELDS
Springfield, Mo., was founded in 1838 and is believed to have been named for Springfield, Mass.
AREA: 73 square miles
ELEVATION: 1,300 feet above sea level
NICKNAMES: Queen City of the Ozarks, Cultural Center of the Ozarks, Gateway to the Ozarks and Birthplace of Route 66.
POPULATION: 154,777
HOUSEHOLDS: 64,691
RACIAL MAKEUP: 92% white, 3% black; 2% Hispanic; small numbers of Asians and other races.
PER-CAPITA INCOME: $17,711. Nearly 16% of the population lives below the poverty line.
TIME ZONE: Central
ANNUAL PRECIPITATION: 43 inches, half of it snow
ON THE WEB: www.springfieldmo.gov; Convention & Visitors Bureau:www.springfieldmo.org/web/SOURCE: U.S. Census Bureau